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The union representing 50,000 Canada Post workers says it won’t back down on its fight to protect good pensions, even as the crown corporation won the right Tuesday to give future postmasters in rural Canada a cheaper pension plan.

“We will not allow Canada Post to steal secure pensions from future generations,” said Mike Palecek, national president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, in a statement Tuesday, after Canada Post won an arbitration ruling against the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association.

“The retirement security of thousands of workers and their families should not rest upon the winner-take-all decision of an arbitrator,” the union said.

The arbitrator’s decision came late Monday in a contract dispute between Canada Post and the association that represents almost 6,000 people, mostly women, who work in tiny post offices across Canada.

The two sides were at an impasse last year, so the parties moved to final offer selection process, where an arbitrator chooses one side or the other.

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“It’s a sad day for us,” said Brenda McAuley, the association’s national president, adding her members do not have the right to strike. “There are very few good paying jobs with a pension and benefits in rural Canada.”

McAuley said they gambled on arbitration, adding that in 2010, the association’s proposal was chosen.

“It’s a 50-50 split,” she said. “But there was no way we would give in to selling out the next generation.”

She added that the agreement, which runs until the end of 2018, gives employees a 1.5 per cent wage increase in January 2017 and 1.75 per cent wage hike in January 2018.

In siding with the company, arbitrator Michel Picher acknowledged the financial challenges facing Canada Post, given the precipitous drop in letter mail and stiff competition in the parcel delivery business, where private companies like FedEx and UPS have lower costs.

With this decision, Canada Post will have switched future hires to a defined contribution plan, from the defined benefit plan, which is indexed, for three unions plus management staff, going forward.

Under a defined benefit plan, employees are guaranteed a certain payout at retirement, regardless of how investments have performed, with the company required to make up any shortfall. In good years, however, companies can get contribution breaks.

With a defined contribution plan, employees receive no guaranteed payout, and what they receive depends on how the plan performs.

The proposed switch in pension plans is at the centre of the current dispute between Canada Post and its largest union, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which represents about 50,000 workers in the urban and rural units.

Even though the union has been in a legal strike position for weeks, it has not served any notice to walk off the job, insisting it wants to negotiate a deal with management.

The proposed pension changes are a no-go for the union, which says it is fundamentally unjust to have people work side by side but getting different compensation.

Canada Post has been pushing for changes to the pension plan, arguing it is not sustainable in the long term.

“It is a problem we need to address,” Canada Post spokesman Jon Hamilton said. “It is a responsible and prudent way to address the long-term issues facing the pension plan.”

The company withdrew a threat to lockout CUPW’s 50,000 members in early July, saying it is committed to negotiating an agreement.

Both sides report little progress to date, though the union’s strike mandate is set to expire on Aug. 25.

The company has previously proposed settling the contract through binding arbitration, but the union has rejected it, saying it wants a negotiated settlement.

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